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Reed Smith set to earn nearly £1m from Savile mandate as BBC criticised for £5m bill

Reed Smith has received nearly a million pounds in legal fees as a result of assisting in the BBC’s investigation into the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal as the corporation comes under criticism for spending a total of £5m of licence fee payers’ money on three reviews.

The BBC’s annual report today (17 July) revealed that the cost of the Pollard Review – one of three reviews set up in the wake of the Savile scandal – was £2.8m, of which £893,500 went to Reed Smith. Continue reading “Reed Smith set to earn nearly £1m from Savile mandate as BBC criticised for £5m bill”

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A high-stakes global play – SJ Berwin to vote next week on tie-up with Asian giant King & Wood Mallesons

Arguably the most ambitious deal to hit the global legal market since the 2010 tie-up between Hogan & Hartson and Lovells looks set to go ahead as it emerges that SJ Berwin is to vote next week on its proposed merger with Asia-Pacific giant King & Wood Mallesons.

Legal Business understands that SJ Berwin partners were given a week’s notice this morning of the vote, which will close at the end of the month. Continue reading “A high-stakes global play – SJ Berwin to vote next week on tie-up with Asian giant King & Wood Mallesons”

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Benchmarking global law firms is getting harder – HSF issues partial post-merger results suggesting PEP down to £750k

Pity the reporters covering the legal industry as the rash of international mergers and differing profit structures has seen law firms increasingly attempt an ad hoc approach to disclosing their financial performance.

Very much in this spirit, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) today (17 July) took the unusual step of releasing its financial performance for just seven months – the period since the union between Herbert Smith and Australian leader Freehills went live on 1 October – but refused to disclose the proceeding five months of the legacy City firm’s financial year. Continue reading “Benchmarking global law firms is getting harder – HSF issues partial post-merger results suggesting PEP down to £750k”

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Into the Breach: Investigations work on the rise as Linklaters takes on G4S tagging role

Big ticket M&A may be in short supply but both defensive and regulator-instigated investigations into corporate behaviour is burgeoning, as Linklaters becomes the latest leading law firm to secure a high profile mandate, advising G4S on its recent tagging scandal.

The Magic Circle firm led by corporate partner Richard Godden and litigator Tom Lidstrom has been called in to advise the private security company, which recently returned to the public eye after the justice secretary Chris Grayling called for it and rival security firm Serco to be investigated for overcharging for the electronic tagging of offenders. Continue reading “Into the Breach: Investigations work on the rise as Linklaters takes on G4S tagging role”

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Can’t make an omelette – newly-merged Norton Rose Fulbright sees exodus in Middle East

So far the high-stakes merger between Norton Rose and US practice Fulbright & Jaworski has been sealed with minimal fall-out but a prominent exception has been confirmed in the Middle East with an eight-partner team quitting the legacy Houston law firm’s Dubai arm for a rival.

Baker Botts today (16 July) confirmed the hire of a 14-lawyer team, which includes the bulk of the legacy Fulbright & Jaworski’s Dubai branch. Continue reading “Can’t make an omelette – newly-merged Norton Rose Fulbright sees exodus in Middle East”

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Deal Watch: sporting metaphor alert as Dechert, HSF and DLA Piper score high-profile football roles

The balance sheets of most English clubs may be shakier than Villa’s back four, but when it comes to raising your deal-doers’ profile there’s still nothing like acting for major football teams.

Among the advisers getting off the bench (sorry) are Dechert, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Squire Sanders on the sale of Fulham Football Club while DLA Piper is working on the £260m regeneration of Liverpool’s Anfield ground. Continue reading “Deal Watch: sporting metaphor alert as Dechert, HSF and DLA Piper score high-profile football roles”

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Reappointing and renewables – the newly-merged Norton Rose Fulbright and Bond Dickinson in again on Crown Estate energy panel

Norton Rose Fulbright and Bond Dickinson have been reappointed to the Crown Estate’s energy and infrastructure panel in what will be regarded as an important win for both law firms.

The Crown Estate said that the move ‘consolidated legal advice across an extremely diverse portfolio’, cutting the body’s previous specialist panel from five to two advisers after a competitive tender process. The appointments will be considered as trophy roles for both firms, in particular underlining their credentials in the renewable energy sector, which remains a coveted area for advisers despite protracted challenges in Europe’s sustainable energy sector. Continue reading “Reappointing and renewables – the newly-merged Norton Rose Fulbright and Bond Dickinson in again on Crown Estate energy panel”

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Risky business: BAE’s compliance head to direct risk at Rolls Royce as Lord Gold’s monitor role comes to an end

BAE Systems compliance and regulation chief counsel Mark Serfozo has moved to Rolls-Royce as director of risk after nearly 20 years at the defence, security and aerospace giant in a move said by BAE’s high profile general counsel Philip Bramwell to be ‘a good career move’.

Serfozo was appointed to head compliance in 2007 as part of Bramwell’s move to beef up that function shortly after his arrival at BAE and during the height of long running investigations by the Serious Fraud Office into the al-Yamamah arms deal.Since then, the compliance function at BAE has quadrupled to around 100 staff and the legal team doubled to 250, while the company’s litigation costs have dropped by 80%. Continue reading “Risky business: BAE’s compliance head to direct risk at Rolls Royce as Lord Gold’s monitor role comes to an end”

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Comment: Hogan Lovells was right to get hitched. It needs to remember that

I’m not a big fan of comparing law firm mergers to marriages. All those torturous metaphors and incongruous imagery. But in assessing the three-year old union between Lovells and Hogan & Hartson, it’s hard to escape the nuptial motif. The deal was forged amid high expectations and a simple analysis: both firms were better off together as neither looked compellingly positioned for an emerging elite of global law. Putting together a transatlantic merger of equals with two large firms that ranked just below the top tier in their respective markets made sense and was arguably a first for the profession. Continue reading “Comment: Hogan Lovells was right to get hitched. It needs to remember that”

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Revolving Doors: DAC Beachcroft, RPC, K&L Gates and Reed Smith boost London offering with lateral hires

London has been the focus of a series of hires for top national, City and US firms including DAC Beachcroft, RPC, K&L Gates and Reed Smith, as Dechert has also boosted its Moscow offering with a hire of a partner from Hogan Lovells.

Adrian Williams joins DAC Beachcroft’s corporate insurance team from reinsurance giant Swiss Re, where he was general counsel for Europe, Middle East and Africa, and was based in Zurich. The firm has also bolstered its real estate team in London with the hire of Nathan East from Hempsons. East specialises in advising medical professionals, care providers and the NHS. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: DAC Beachcroft, RPC, K&L Gates and Reed Smith boost London offering with lateral hires”

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Financial results 2013: DAC Beachcroft, Stephenson Harwood, Brodies and Morgan Cole reveal their numbers

Top 30 UK firms DAC Beachcroft and Stephenson Harwood today (15 July) unveiled growth in revenue for 2012/13, while Brodies last week revealed a third consecutive increase in turnover and profit and Morgan Cole has seen its profits drop significantly.

DAC Beachcroft’s revenues have increased by 14.2% to £188.2m, up from £164.8m in 2011/12. Net profit at the 1079-lawyer firm also increased by 42% to £31.8m at the end of the last financial year, up from £22.4m the previous year. However, profit per equity partner (PEP) is down by 11.5% from £321,000 in 2011/12 to £284,000.

Continue reading “Financial results 2013: DAC Beachcroft, Stephenson Harwood, Brodies and Morgan Cole reveal their numbers”

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From Meerkats to Bulldogs: Direct Line Group latest insurer to enter legal services market

Direct Line Group (DLG) looks set to become the next major insurance group to launch a new legal services venture, in partnership with Parabis Law, after applying to the Solicitors Regulation Authority to form an alternative business structure (ABS).

The retail general insurer has also added an interesting dimension to the debate over cuts to legal aid by announcing it plans to launch ‘competitive’ law firm DLG Legal Services at a time when most Britons are struggling to afford legal services. Continue reading “From Meerkats to Bulldogs: Direct Line Group latest insurer to enter legal services market”

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Full speed ahead – Ashurst puts in place joint corporate structure as full integration looms

As Ashurst proceeds headlong towards its October vote on full financial integration with Asia Pac’s Blake Dawson the firm has put in place a democratic corporate structure that sees current managing partner (MP) James Collis confirmed as global MP of the merged entity.

Many of the appointments are expected; Ashurst Australia’s managing partner John Carrington will retain that role, although more of a surprise is the fact that the senior partner title currently held by Charlie Geffen will disappear, to be replaced on a new-look joint board by an elected chairman and vice chairman, who must come from different legacy firms (a betting person might suggest Geffen and Ashurst Australia’s chairman Mary Padbury are naturals for the roles.) Continue reading “Full speed ahead – Ashurst puts in place joint corporate structure as full integration looms”

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Freshfields and Linklaters take the lead on Schneider Electric’s £3.3bn Invensys bid

Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have landed the leading roles on a takeover bid by France’s Schneider Electric for UK engineering firm Invensys in an offer that values the company at £3.3bn.

Linklaters led by London corporate partner Nick Rees is lead adviser to the French power equipment company, while Freshfields led by corporate head Barry O’Brien and City M&A co-head Ben Spiers is advising longstanding client Invensys. The deal comes just under a year after O’Brien and Spiers led on the company’s £1.74bn sale of its rail division to Siemens. Continue reading “Freshfields and Linklaters take the lead on Schneider Electric’s £3.3bn Invensys bid”

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Looking for answers: Field Fisher considers near-shoring as part of strategy review

After a turbulent year that has seen Field Fisher Waterhouse attempt a number of mergers and seen it unveil disappointing financial results, the firm is facing its issues head on, including looking at moving certain London support functions to Manchester as part of an ongoing strategy review initiated by managing partner Michael Chissick on his appointment in February this year.

If the move goes ahead, some non-legal roles such as IT and secretarial could be moved to Field Fisher’s seven-lawyer Manchester base in a bid to cut costs. Continue reading “Looking for answers: Field Fisher considers near-shoring as part of strategy review”

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And the most upwardly mobile law firm is? Client feedback pushes Latham to the top of Legal 500’s US edition

Often hailed as one of the greatest US success stories of the last 25 years, new research underlines the elevated position Latham & Watkins has attained in the world’s largest legal market.

The Legal 500 United States 2013 edition shows Latham as the highest ranked law firm judged by the total number of recommendations, putting the Los Angeles-bred giant ahead of a string of top Wall Street firms.

Continue reading “And the most upwardly mobile law firm is? Client feedback pushes Latham to the top of Legal 500’s US edition”

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More claims but fewer settlements – McDermott becomes the latest major law firm to face an employment dispute

McDermott Will & Emery yesterday became the latest law firm to stand accused of unfair dismissal and discrimination in the Central London Employment Tribunal (CLET) as experts say the days of settling claims simply to avoid potentially negative publicity are coming to an end.

Former City lawyer Cheng Tan has alleged that she was made redundant after asking to extend her maternity leave, having suffered complications during child birth. Continue reading “More claims but fewer settlements – McDermott becomes the latest major law firm to face an employment dispute”

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Another senior departure for Shearman’s Euro practice as Links rebuilds French securities team with high profile hire

The revolving door at Shearman & Sterling’s European practice was spinning once again today (11 July) with news that capital markets partner Bertrand Sénéchal has quit the US law firm to join the Paris arm of Linklaters.

Sénéchal’s practice covers a broad range of debt and equity securities work. The high profile partner has handled the French and US aspects of several large high-yield and Yankee bond transactions, and has advised major companies like Danone and Schneider Electric, as well as prominent underwriters. Continue reading “Another senior departure for Shearman’s Euro practice as Links rebuilds French securities team with high profile hire”

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Host of top 100 firms disclose increase in turnover as profit proves a more variable metric

A host of UK top 100 legal firms including Holman Fenwick Willan, Ward Hadaway, Gateley, Shoosmiths and Sacker & Partners have all reported revenue increases for 2012/13 amidst highly variable profit figures.

Top 30 UK firm Holman Fenwick Willan has seen its turnover increase by 13.8% at the 2012/13 year-end to £141m, while net profit jumped by 17% to £38m, up from £32.4m the previous year. However average profit per equity partner (PEP) at the 450-lawyer firm climbed by a modest 1% from £525,000 to £530,000, largely a result of the addition of 10 new equity partners over the past year, taking the total to 72. Continue reading “Host of top 100 firms disclose increase in turnover as profit proves a more variable metric”

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Comment: The Asian century maybe but not the Asian decade for the Global 100

The market for the world’s largest law firms remains as reliably turbulent as ever. As this month’s edition of Legal Business shows, top 100 law firms in the world as a whole eked out a 4% hike in revenues to generate $84.9bn, a figure slightly flattering underlying growth due to a handful of sizeable mergers – including the creation of Herbert Smith Freehills and King & Wood Mallesons. Revenue per lawyer was flat. In real terms, the world’s legal elite is once again flat or modestly shrinking and headline income growth slowed in comparison to the 2011/12 year. Conditions remain considerably better than seen during 2009/10 but are a long way from pre-2008 boom years. Continue reading “Comment: The Asian century maybe but not the Asian decade for the Global 100”